Vettel confident of Ferrari step forward

Sebastian Vettel is confident that Ferrari will be able to make a step forward in 2016 as it continues its pursuit of leading team Mercedes.

Ferrari made substantial progress last winter, transforming from a win-less fourth in the championship to emerge as Mercedes' primary challenger this season, collecting three victories in the process.

"I can see what’s happening in the background, the work that has gone into this year, the work that is going into next year back in the factory, back in Maranello with all the people," he said.

"It looks promising and I think we should be able to make a good step forward.

"Now, obviously the most important day is when you put the new car on the track and you see what it does – but that’s still a bit far away.

"For now I think we have two races left and we want to do well and ideally get the best possible results here and in Abu Dhabi."

Vettel is hopeful that he will be able to overhaul the 21 point deficit against Nico Rosberg and finish second in the championship.

"Obviously there’s two races to go, the last one didn’t help but as long as it’s possible to finish second you want to finish second rather than third," he explained.

"So clearly our target is to at least try and split the Mercedes and split them the right way but the best way to do that or the best recipe is to just do our job and try to achieve the maximum and then we will see what happens on Sunday."